Legendary Russian rocker Andrei Makarevich has had three concerts canceled following a tour in Ukraine and public criticism of Moscow's role in the conflict there. From our newsroom:
Representatives of a restaurant in the Kazan, capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, said on September 12 that a Makarevich concert scheduled for September 27 had been canceled for "organizational reasons." Last week, performances scheduled for September 19 and 26 in the Volga River city of Samara were called off for what the venues said were "technical reasons."
Makarevich, frontman of the band Mashina Vremeni (Time Machine) since the Soviet era, has come under a hail of criticism from pro-Kremlin media.
In Ukraine last month, he gave concerts for refugees from the eastern part of the country, where government forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists Kyiv and the West says are backed by Russian soldiers and supplied with Russian weapons. Russia denies it.
His new song, "My Country Has Gone Mad," went viral in the Internet in recent weeks.
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and bileton.ru
Here's our recent piece by @BalmforthTom chronicling the abuse Makarevich has faced since performing for Ukrainian IDPs:
Russian Rocker Called A 'Traitor' For Performing For IDPs In Ukraine
Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammudin Tun Husein speaking at a news conference today in Sepang, Malaysia.
"I can say categorically from my discussions with my counterparts in Russia and representatives from the foreign ministry of Russia, that they too want transparency. They too want to see justice. They too want an investigation that is done thoroughly to make sure that whoever is responsible is brought to justice."
"The bigger problems that we face in finding a cease-fire for Ukraine and Russia and eastern Ukraine, also applies to our crash site. But if we can achieve this -- I think this is an achievement that requires commitment, impartiality, and transparency."
Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, on Facebook vowed that his country would not hand over "Mustang Wanted," the urban climber who confessed to painting the spire in blue-and-gold and flying a Ukrainian flag above a Moscow skyscraper last month. Herashchenko cited a Russian media report that said Russia had issued an international warrant for the arrest of the daredevil patriot -- said to be called Pavel Ushevets.
"This is a hero of Ukraine," Herashchenko said.
Herashchenko added that the Russian media "lied" and that, in fact, there is no Interpol warrant for the climber but rather a CIS one. Moreover, he said, Article 25 of the Ukrainian Constitution forbids authorities from handing over its citizens to foreign governments for prosecution.
Here is an excerpt from a report by RAPSInews:
“Pavel Ushevets and his fans should know that we will not surrender our Mustang or any other Ukrainian citizen to Russia,” Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook Friday.
He added that Ushevets planned to change his family and given names, and that the Ukrainian officials would help him do this.
A lawyer of Alexander Pogrebov, one of the six suspects in the case, said the Mustang had been placed on the international wanted list under the same charges as those presented to the other defendants: vandalism and hooliganism, which carry a maximum term of seven years in prison.
Four young people – Alexander Shirokozhukh, Alexander Pogrebov, Yevgenia Korotkova and Anna Lepyoshkina – with special climbing equipment were detained in the aftermath of the incident, charged with hooliganism and placed on house arrest.
From ITAR-TASS:
A second Russian humanitarian convoy will head for Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, on September 13, the press center of Novorossia, the union of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics, said on Friday.